News

This section includes scientific and technological news from the IAC and its Observatories, as well as press releases on scientific and technological results, astronomical events, educational projects, outreach activities and institutional events.

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  • NEOMIR
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    The IAC hosts the meeting of the NEOMIR mission that will boost the early detection of asteroids.

    The mission is part of the planetary defence strategy of the European Space Agency (ESA) The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) is hosting this week the meeting of the Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) linked to ESA's NEOMIR (NearEarth Object Mission in the InfraRed) mission, which aims, among other things, to create a system for detecting near-Earth asteroids using a space telescope. The mission is part of the planetary defence strategy of the European Space Agency (ESA), which has set a possible launch date of 2030, using an Ariene 6-2 rocket. SAG coordinator and IAC researcher

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  • Casiana Muñoz Tuñón
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    IAC Deputy Director Casiana Muñoz Tuñón receives the Bandera de Andalucía Award

    The deputy director of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), Casiana Muñoz Tuñón, has been awarded the Bandera de Andalucía prize in the category of Research, Science and Health for her career. The astrophysicist received this award at an official ceremony held at the Teatro Góngora in Córdoba as part of the Andalusia Day celebrations. Casiana Muñoz is from Córdoba and has been working at the IAC since 1984, where she has held the position of deputy director since 2019. Her research role has spanned several decades on four continents, with more than 155 articles published in

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  • CARMENES 2024 Scientific Meeting
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    CARMENES exoplanet hunter scientific meeting

    The 19th scientific meeting of CARMENES, a collaboration of more than 100 scientists from 11 Spanish and German institutions aimed at studying extrasolar planets around M-type dwarf stars, the lowest mass stars, was held this week at the IACTEC facilities in La Laguna (Tenerife, Spain). Since it became operational in 2016, CARMENES has analysed more than 360 such stars, leading to the discovery of more than 65 new planets, making it the most efficient instrument and mapper in the study of planets around very low-mass stars, with 30 % of the total number of planets discovered in this range

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  • Dark matter galaxy
    Press release
    Astronomers observe the effect of dark matter on the evolution of the galaxies

    A study led by researcher Laura Scholz, of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has found, for the first time, observational evidence that the evolution and the properties of the galaxies are conditioned not only by the mass of the stars they contain, but aso by the effect of the dark matter halos which surround them. The results are published in the specialist journal Nature Astronomy. Dark matter comprises around 85% of all the matter in the Universe. Although ordinary matter absorbs, reflects and emits light, dark matter cannot be seen directly, which makes its detection

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  • ALISIO-1 image of La Palma and El Hierro
    Press release
    First observations of the Canary Islands satellite ALISIO-1 from space

    The first satellite developed by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias,, which was launched into space last December, has sent back its first images. The quality of the observations shows the perfect performance of its DRAGO-2 infrared camera. The pointing test of its laser optical communications module has also been successfully carried out, making it the first Spanish satellite to use this technology. Today, at a press conference, the first images obtained with the ALISIO-1 satellite (Advanced Land-Imaging Satellite for Infrared Observations), an Earth observation satellite whose

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  • 2nd LIOM International Workshop
    Press release
    LIOM, the IAC's technological laboratory for finding life beyond the Solar System

    From 14 to 16 February, the second scientific meeting of the Laboratory for Innovation in Opto-Mechanics (LIOM) will be held at the IACTEC building managed by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) in the Science and Technology Park of La Laguna (Tenerife). This project is dedicated to the development of new optical and mechanical technologies that will form part of the next generation of telescopes capable of detecting biomarkers on exoplanets. One year after its creation, the IAC's Laboratory for Innovation in Opto-Mechanics (LIOM), is holding its second international meeting

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